Apple’s main iPhone supplier, Foxconn, declared it had put an end to the illegal overtime work being put in by six students working at its iPhone X plant.

The announcement was made after a report in the Financial Times stated that at least six students were working 11- hour days at the iPhone X plant located in the Henan province.

According to the report, almost 3,000 students were hired to work at the Zhengzhou plant. Responding to the report Apple stated that the students, most of whom belonged to secondary school, were voluntary workers.

However, it admitted that they “should not have been allowed to work overtime”.

Apple stated that it was “dedicated” to ensuring that the dignity and respect of its workers was maintained. The company added that it would “continue” to do everything it could to make a “positive impact and protect” their employees at the supply chain.

Foxconn, the company which operates the internship program at the factory informed the press that it had ensured that interns were no longer taking on extra work.

In a statement made to the BBC it added that these interns represented “a very small percentage” of its Chinese workforce.

It added that the overtime reported by the Financial Times had been a breach of both the country’s labor laws and the company’s own policies.

Both Apple and Foxconn defended their hiring practices and stated that the interns were “compensated” for their efforts.

Reports state that the firm hired the interns in September in order to meet the demand created by the new iPhone X.

Since this new flagship model could usher a new era of success for the company, Apple was adamant that the manufacturing process be efficient.

With over 46.6 million phones sold between July and September of this year the iPhone X is well on its way to becoming Apple’s most prized possession.

Patricia Kellogg is a journalist who has held many editorial roles at numerous high-profile publishers – both offline as well as online. She has an experience of more than 10 years in editing and proofreading articles across a range of sectors. She is also well versed with handling academic journal articles, theses, technical manuals, press releases, reports, feature articles, web site content, promotional material, policy papers, and grant proposals.